The present invention relates to vehicle visors and particularly to a visor which includes a movable panel for adjustment.
Vehicle visors are mounted such that they can pivot between a raised stored position adjacent the vehicle headliner and a lowered use position. They typically also can pivot to a side window position, allowing the user to block incident sunlight from the side. In order to provide simultaneous side and front window shade, visor systems have been proposed which employ a primary conventional visor and a secondary or auxiliary visor. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,261,881; 2,492,074; 2,517,872; 2,823,950; 3,499,679; and 5,071,186 are representative of such structure. In these systems, an auxiliary visor is provided, typically coupled to the primary visor through a pivot connection such that it can be moved to a variety of locations for providing sun blocking along more than one axis of incident sunlight. Some prior art suggests providing conventional visors with sliding sleeves for blocking sunlight. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,610,088 and 3,649,068 are representative of this "add-on" approach. The add-on visor extenders, although being useful for extending the width of existing visors, do not provide a finished appearance to an automobile which is acceptable for modern vehicle interior design. Frequently, such devices clip-on utilizing unsightly clips which would also not pass vehicle safety standards and could not be provided as original equipment for such reason.
The visor system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,071,186 provides a visor installation which includes a pair of visors, one of which is mounted between fixed mounting brackets and is made of a polymeric material and can integrally include a sliding extension mounted thereto. The visor body and extension are both made of the same polymeric material and are interlocked to hold the sliding panel in place and yet allow it to move along the longitudinal axis of the visor body. Unfortunately with such construction, the polymeric mating visor blades, if mounted sufficiently loosely to allow easy sliding movement, can cause annoying rattling or other noise when the vehicle is traveling along rough terrain. With an emphasis on passenger comfort and quietness in the passenger compartment of a vehicle, such a problem becomes significant and frequently is solved utilizing soft pads or the like at locations along the visor bodies to minimize such noise. These after-design "fixes," however, add to the cost of a visor and interfere with the sliding motion desired. Thus, there remains a need for a visor having an extendable panel which provides the desired sliding action and yet is relatively noiseless and one which further can provide a high quality appearance for a vehicle interior.